Conscious Choice Magazine - September 2000

Dottie Lessard waited twenty-seven years to take her first deep breath. Now the double-lung transplant recipient is breezing past track and field competitors gathering up gold, silver, and bronze medals along the way.

Lessard, 31, of Bradford, Massachusetts, has achieved what she never thought possible since being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of six weeks. She maintained her health with exercise until she was fifteen years old. It was then that her lungs began to deteriorate. By the time she was 25, her lungs were so diseased that she was hospitalized every two weeks with IV antibiotics.

But Lessard did not let the disease slow her exercise regimen down. While she waited for donor lungs, she became certified as a personal trainer. Doctors credit the transplant's success to her determination to stay fit.

Revitalized and ready to move on, Lessard set her sights on the track and field competition at the U.S. Transplant Games. She and 1,500 transplant athletes and 500 families of organ donors from across the country met in July at Disney World in Orlando, Floridas, to participate in the largest gathering of transplant recipients and donor families. Transplant athletes – including kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, and bone marrow recipients – competed for medals in thirteen sports, including bicycling , bowling, golf, racquetball, swimming, tennis, and track and field events.

Four years post-transplant, Lessard took home gold, silver, and bronze medals in the long jump and the 100- and 200-meter dash competitions during the 2000 games.

“Despite my illness, I've always pushed myself to stay active and physically fit because my life depends on it,” said Lessard. “The U.S. Transplant Games gave me such a rewarding goal to work toward as I recovered form surgery…it all just amazes me…I wasn't supposed to be here, but now I am here and winning gold medals”